Ruan Mei Build, Light Cones & Teams | Honkai: Star Rail

Ruan Mei is a 5-star Ice Harmony character who functions as a premier universal support and the core of Weakness Break strategies in Honkai: Star Rail. Her kit revolves around increasing all allies' Weakness Break Efficiency and deploying a field that provides All-Type RES PEN through her Ultimate. With her Skill to significantly boost team DMG and her Talent to increase SPD for all allies excluding herself, Ruan Mei has established herself as a versatile support that fits into almost any team composition. This comprehensive Ruan Mei build guide covers her complete build optimization, Break Effect thresholds, team synergies, and stat optimization strategies.

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Ruan Mei Character Overview

Ruan Mei is a 5-star Ice Harmony character and a premier support unit in Honkai: Star Rail, specializing in team-wide damage amplification and Weakness Break strategies. Her kit centers on increasing all allies' Weakness Break Efficiency and providing rare All-Type RES PEN through her Ultimate.

Her gameplay revolves around maintaining the Overtone state via her Skill, which boosts team damage and toughness reduction for 3 turns. Passively, her Talent grants a permanent SPD boost to all allies and triggers additional Ice Break DMG when enemies are broken.

Her Ultimate, Petals to Stream, Repose in Dream, deploys a field that delays enemy recovery and extends the duration of their Weakness Break. To maximize her utility, players should prioritize reaching a 180% Break Effect threshold in battle, which fully optimizes her damage-boosting traces and ensures the highest team output.

Ruan Mei Trace Priority

Ruan Mei’s Ultimate takes the highest priority for leveling. It provides the team with All-Type RES PEN and triggers Thanatoplum Rebloom, which are her most impactful supporting tools for any endgame team.

Ruan Mei’s Skill and Talent share the next priority. Her Skill is essential for Weakness Break Efficiency, while her Talent offers a constant SPD boost and extra Break DMG. Focus on these to maximize your team's overall speed and shield-shredding potential.

Ruan Mei’s Basic ATK is the lowest priority. As a pure support, her personal attack damage is negligible. Instead, prioritize unlocking her Bonus Traces like Candle Lights on Still Waters to ensure her Break Effect buffs are fully optimized.

Ruan Mei Best Light Cones

To select the ideal Light Cone for Ruan Mei, evaluate your build against these three tactical needs rather than simply choosing by rarity:

• Meeting the 180% Break Effect Target: Ruan Mei requires a 180% Break Effect threshold in-battle to maximize the team-wide DMG boost from her "Candlelights on Still Waters" trace. If your relic substats are low, prioritize Light Cones with high Break Effect, such as Past Self in Mirror (60%) or Memories of the Past (56%), to bridge the gap.
• Optimizing Ultimate Energy Cycles: Her most powerful utility, including All-Type RES PEN and Thanatoplum Rebloom enemy delays, is tied to her Ultimate. 
• Supporting Team Skill Point (SP) Economy: While she is generally anSP-positive support, high-intensity teams can run low on resources. In these cases, look for Light Cones that offer SP recovery—like her signature option —or provide team-wide energy at the start of waves to maintain momentum.

1. 5-Star Options

Ruan Mei's best Light Cone is Past Self in Mirror, which provides a massive 60% Break Effect to help her reach the 180% requirement. It boosts all allies' DMG by 24% for 3 turns after she uses her Ultimate and recovers 1 Skill Point if her Break Effect is 150% or higher. Additionally, it regenerates 10 Energy for the entire team at the start of each wave, ensuring a powerful headstart in combat.

2. Alternative & F2P Options

In Pursuit of the Wind serves as the current best F2P option for Ruan Mei as it provides a valuable SPD boost to help reach her high mobility requirements. It also increases the DMG dealt by all allies after she uses her Skill, perfectly synergizing with her 3-turn rotation to provide consistent team-wide damage amplification.

Alternatively, Ruan Mei can use Memories of the Past, a 4-star Light Cone that focuses on Ultimate uptime. By providing both a high Break Effect (56%) and bonus Energy upon attacking, it allows Ruan Mei to achieve a consistent 3-turn Ultimate rotation, which can be mathematically superior for maintaining 100% buff uptime compared to Cones without energy regeneration.

But the Battle Isn't Over is also a solid option that provides Ultimate consistency via a 10% Energy Regeneration Rate and reliable Skill Point recovery. However, it ranks lower because its 30% DMG buff only applies to the next acting ally. This makes it less effective than team-wide alternatives in the dual-DPS or Break compositions where Ruan Mei typically excels.

Ruan Mei Relics, Ornaments & Stats Priority

1. Relics

The 4-piece Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations set is the best choice, increasing the Break Effect of the wearer by 16% and increases all allies' Break Effect by 30% for 2 turns when the wearer uses their Ultimate on an ally. Additionally, the 2-piece effect also helps her reach the Break Effect requirement.

Alternatively, the 4-piece Thief of Shooting Meteor set is viable, increasing the wearer's Break Effect by 16% and regenerating 3 Energy after the wearer inflicts Weakness Break on an enemy. While functional, it's less recommended than Iron Cavalry for Ruan Mei.

For players who need more Speed, a 4-piece combination using Messenger Traversing Hackerspace can provide the necessary SPD boost.

2. Planar Ornaments

Sprightly Vonwacq is Ruan Mei's best set, ensuring she acts first and maintains her Ultimate field more consistently. Alternatively, you can use Lushaka, the Sunken Seas for Energy and team ATK buffs, or Talia: Kingdom of Banditry, providing up to 36% Break Effect to help reach her 180% requirement. 

3. Stats Priority

Ruan Mei Team Compositions

Ruan Mei is the premier support for Break-oriented teams and Dual-DPS compositions due to her powerful team-wide buffs. She is a cornerstone of Super Break teams alongside Firefly and Harmony Trailblazer, as her Weakness Break Efficiency and RES PEN significantly amplify their damage output. Beyond Break teams, her ability to buff the entire party simultaneously makes her the best-in-slot support for several high-tier archetypes:

• Super Break Teams: Firefly, Rappa, Boothill, etc.
• DoT (Damage over Time) Teams: Kafka, Black Swan, Hysilens and Huohuo.
• DPS Hypercarries: Phainon, Jingliu, Blade, Castorice, etc

1. Super Break Teams

2. Damage over Time Teams

3. Hypercarry Teams

Ruan Mei Eidolons

Eidolon Performance

Eidolon Effect

Conclusion

Ruan Mei stands out as an elite support who specializes in elevating Break-focused teams and Dual-DPS setups. Her core gameplay involves keeping the Overtone buff active to increase team-wide damage and Weakness Break Efficiency, while her Ultimate provides essential RES PEN to bypass enemy defenses. By hitting the 180% Break Effect mark and focusing on SPD, she ensures her powerful utility is always available to the team.

In endgame content like Memory of Chaos, Ruan Mei acts as a versatile foundation for a wide variety of lineups. She is most effective when managed as an SP-positive support, allowing her to fuel the team’s needs while maintaining her field to delay enemy recovery. Her ability to amplify the entire party's performance makes her one of the most reliable and high-value characters to have in your roster.

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